Sunday, May 13, 2012

Tying Grobert's Sulphur Emerger/Cripple

Here it is. As usual, Tim Flagler captures the tying process with unparalleled clarity. Although I am present during the entire taping process, it still amazes at how he takes the images of a couple of flies being tied, and edits them into a compact, clear instructional video. I'm rarely satisfied when we get done taping, as I always think there were things I could have done better, and then I see the finished video and see it shows the steps just as I had hoped.

This fly came into being about 20 years ago while fishing the Missouri River in Montana - it's essentially a giant spring creek below Holter dam, and the trout can get pretty fussy when the PMDs have been hatching for a few weeks. By then, the fish have seen every imitation the local fly shops carry, and when you find big guy sipping away in side eddy you need to show him something he hasn't seen before that looks too good to pass up. If you seine the surface film when the flies are hatching in good numbers, you'll find a surprising number of stillborn or half-hatched cripples that make an easy meal for the trout. This fly comes in handy at those times, and since then has saved the day for me on many rivers and streams throughout the country when the Usual fly gets ignored.